James Milner sees Man U clash as ‘opportunity’
Liverpool star James Milner wants to use the Manchester United game as an opportunity.
Things haven’t been going well for Jurgen Klopp’s side. We haven’t scored in four and we’ve let the Premier League lead slip from our fingers during a run of winnable fixtures.
On top of that, the owners are refusing to sanction a deal for another centre-back, when it’s clear that we need one badly.
And now we have an unwanted FA Cup game against Manchester United; or is it? James Milner feels like this is a huge chance for the squad to put some poor league form behind them and find some rhythm by beating Manure in the cup.
Speaking to the official club website, Milner was adamant that the fixture could be a force for good.
"“It’s a great opportunity for us. Football is like that – there’s peaks and troughs. Nothing is ever easy and smooth. It seems easy sometimes when things are going well and you’re flying.“We have to be big enough to pull ourselves out. When things are going well it’s easy, everybody wants to get on the ball, it’s easy to play. Things come easy when things are going well.”"
Liverpool need to win
It’ll be really interesting to see what team Klopp picks. Will he try and get our star players back in form through brute force of fixtures, or will lads like Divock Origi, Xherdan Shaqiri get another chance?
Another area to watch will be at the back. Rhys Williams and Nat Phillips could be picked to allow Fabinho and Jordan Henderson to return to their normal roles and thus influence our attacks from midfield, but it would be a gamble.
Milner is likely to start at left-back to give the exhausted Andy Robertson a break. Kostas Tsimikas has recently returned from his injury lay-off, but probably won’t be ready to start this one.
Will we see Naby Keita? The Guinea international has been anonymous since the opening five weeks of the season, where we foolishly allowed hopes to rise that this could be his season. It hasn’t been.
Three players Liverpool can now approach for free transfers. dark. Next
Regardless of the team selected, the opposition makes this clash more than just a normal FA Cup one. We must win, and doing so would be enormous for supporters and players.